Astana, January 27: Kazakhstan has identified social and
economic modernization as its main vector of development for the next decade,
President Nursultan Nazarbayev said as he outlined major priorities of this new
direction in his state-of-the-nation address.

“New
tasks to strengthen the economy and improve people’s welfare represent the new
stage in Kazakhstan’s development path,” the President told the members of the
Parliament, the Government, and the people of the country during his address
televised live nationally.

He
went on to note that finding the optimal balance between achieving economic
success and providing public goods is vital for Kazakhstan. For this, the
country needs to implement a set of tasks in ten directions, he said.

Nazarbayev
named employment as the first direction. “On my instruction, the Government has
approved a fundamentally new employment programme,” the President said. The
programme targets tasks such as the creation of an effective system of training
and employment assistance, providing greater support for entrepreneurship, and
increasing labour mobility. The large-scale implementation of the programme
will begin this year, the President said.

Affordable
housing was named as the second direction. Each year Kazakhstan commissions six
million square metres of new housing. However, more than half a million of
young families require own homes. To solve the problem of housing, the
President instructed the government to develop and adopt a state programme
named “Affordable Housing – 2020” by July 1.

Development
of regions and small towns is the third direction. The country should build new
plants and create industrial jobs and social infrastructure in economically
promising areas. President highlighted the development of small single-industry
towns as a separate issue. As the Zhanaozen disturbances last December have
shown, single industry towns are vulnerable to social risks. Therefore, the
government was instructed to prepare a special programme on the development of
one-company towns.

The
fourth direction concerns the improvement of the quality of public services.
“It is an important aspect of combating corruption and enhancing public trust
in the activities of state bodies.” For this, the country needs to develop
e-government, simplify administrative procedures, and improve computer literacy
of the population, the head of state said.

As
the fifth direction, Nazarbayev named the improvement of human resource
capacity. “Our most important task is to prepare a skilled political class of
managers. I instruct the Government and the Presidential Administration to
prepare proposals on candidates for the Presidential personnel corps by the end
of the first half of 2012,” he said. This body will form the basis of a new
managerial elite, which will lead the country in the 21st century.

The
President identified modernisation of the judiciary and law enforcement systems
as the sixth direction. The procedure for the formation of the judiciary need
to be radically revised, the new Criminal and Procedure Code need to be
completed, and the draft bill on private detective activity is to be prepared.
Another important task is to update the personnel of law enforcement and
special bodies.

Qualitative
growth of human capital in Kazakhstan is the seventh direction, which concerns
the improvement of education and health. The country needs to introduce
advanced techniques and technologies in education process, improve the quality
of the teaching staff, and increase access to education for young people.
Another important task is to increase the availability and quality of medical
services, as well as to promote healthy lifestyle.

The
eighth direction relates to the pension system. Nazarbayev instructed the
Government and the National Bank to develop proposals to improve the pension
system, especially as far as the oversight of the pension funds is concerned.
The industrial and innovation projects must continue to be implemented, the
President said next. Therefore, he said the Programme of Accelerated Industrial
and Innovative Development will remain the benchmark of economic modernisation.
He also outlined several major multi-billion-dollar projects that the
Government is to implement within the next few years, including the
construction of a power station in Balkhash, a petro chemistry plant in Atyrau,
a gas processing plant at the Karachanganak field and a set of gas pipelines
throughout the country.

Last
but not least, Nursultan Nazarbayev named the development of agriculture.
Kazakhstan will introduce mechanisms of state support for retailers without
intermediaries, create a single grain holding, and establish a state system of
guarantees and insurances to reduce risks of private investment in agricultural
production, the President said.

President
Nazarbayev stressed that the Government needs to strengthen the innovation
system of the country. Diversification of foreign direct investments in
Kazakhstan remains an important issue as well. They must be directed to
promising industries such as tourism, the President said as he called for the
development of skiing resorts near Almaty.

He
also went over key aspects of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy for
the decade ahead. “We have responded to the global challenges of the 21st century
by deepening integration on the Eurasian space. As a responsible member of the
international community, Kazakhstan will continue to actively seek ways to
strengthen peace and security. Kazakhstan will remain committed to a balanced
foreign policy, interacting both with the West and Asia,” Nazarbayev said. He
listed several key events this year in the foreign policy area, including the
20th anniversary of the Conference on Interaction and
Confidence Building Measures which now brings together 24 states from Israel to
Iran to India to Pakistan to China and Vietnam.

“Today,
the whole world and every state need to find answers to powerful global and
domestic challenges. By performing the tasks in ten directions of the
socio-economic modernisation, we will strengthen the economy, make our society
stable, and improve the well-being of our people,” the President said.

President
Nazarbayev called social modernization the central issue for the new Parliament
and the Government, as well as all responsible forces such as Kazakhstan’s
parties, public associations, creative and professional unions, the media.

“We
must unite all the forces for the benefit of our motherland. I call on all the
citizens of Kazakhstan to take active part in the work to achieve the identified
goals,” the President concluded.